Patience is a virtue
San Francisco--We've been very, very patient, waiting for this 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI. The seventh-generation GTI debuted as a concept, tantalizingly close to production, in September 2012 at the Paris Motor Show. Volkswagen followed up with the production version the following March, at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, and our European editor, Georg Kacher, drove it in France that same month. A couple of months later, also in France, west coast editor Michael Jordan had a turn behind the wheel. Both gentlemen enjoyed themselves tremendously, but the rest of us atAutomobile Magazinehad to bide our time, just like you.
Now, mere weeks before the 2015 Golf GTI finally reaches U.S. showrooms, we're getting our first opportunity, albeit a brief one, to drive the car on American soil. Across the bay from San Francisco, in Richmond, Volkswagen has a fleet of Golfs and Golf GTIs at Craneway Pavilion, a dramatic, Albert Kahn-designed, prewar complex that was once a Ford Motor Company assembly factory, of all things.
Is this a new car?
At first glance, you'll barely know that the 2015 VW GTI is a new car. Look more carefully, though, and you'll realize that this Mk7 edition is indeed different from its predecessor. See the crisper body lines; the geometrically shaped five-spoke wheels; the new front fender badges; and the new front-end design with LED fog lights set into prominent horizontal strakes surrounding a mesh lower grille. The horizontal, body-color line that used to stretch between the headlights now goes all the way through the headlights, separating them from the turn signals. Still, while the 2015 GTI has lots of different details compared with the outgoing 2014 GTI, they're all pretty subtle to the casual observer.
More power now, even more later
I'm handed the key to a Tornado Red 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI S with manual transmission and the Performance Pack. I open the door to see a familiar but freshened interior with the famous plaid cloth seats. (Leather is optional.) They are comfortable and supportive, but not aggressively bolstered. Once you settle in, you grasp the flat-bottomed steering wheel, which has a rim that's just the right thickness. Left foot to the floor, right foot on the brake, right index finger hits the start button that's located near the gearshifter, and I hear the steady thrum of the EA288 2.0-liter turbocharged and direct-injected four-cylinder engine. With 210 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque, it's bringing 10 more hp and an additional 51 lb-ft to the party as compared with the Mk6's engine. [The Performance Pack, a $1495 stand-alone option available on all trim levels and with both transmissions, adds an additional 10 hp, for 220 hp total, plus bigger brakes and, most notably, an electronically controlled, hydraulically actuated, torque-sensing, limited-slip front differential. The only bummer is that you'll have to wait until December to get it.]
A silky clutch take-up segues perfectly to the linear movement of the gas pedal, and I'm effortlessly moving the gearshifter through the first few gears as I head to the 580 freeway. I hit the "mode" button and select sport settings for the steering and engine. Before long, I'm up on San Pablo Dam Road, a great, fast, hilly stretch that follows the San Pablo Reservoir. The razor-sharp steering, the torquey engine, and the great visibility all come into play here.
